


Wake Up Next To You

by kissoffools



Category: Teen Wolf (TV) RPF
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Morning After
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-01-10
Packaged: 2018-01-07 15:26:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1121485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissoffools/pseuds/kissoffools
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After her break-up with Daniel Sharman, Crystal Reed swears off dating co-stars. It’s too much drama, Crystal thinks, and she vows she’s never going to fall victim to it again. And she means it, too.</p><p>It isn’t her fault that Tyler Hoechlin complicates things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wake Up Next To You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sandrine Shaw (Sandrine)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandrine/gifts).



> A fandom_stocking treat for sandrine! Happy holidays, sandrine. I've seen you mention this pairing a couple of times here and there, and I love the idea of them together, too. I wanted to write something like this for you for Yuletide, but when time ran out on me, I thought I'd stuff your stocking with it instead! I hope you enjoy. :)

After her break-up with Daniel, Crystal swears off dating co-stars.

It’s not worth the stress, she thinks. The convenience of having the person around every day isn’t worth the anxiety and awkwardness that comes with a break-up, the difficulty of having to see them at work every day afterwards. It’s too much drama, Crystal thinks, and she vows she’s never going to fall victim to it again.

And she means it, too.

It isn’t her fault that Tyler Hoechlin complicates things.

It’s just that he’s so _good_. He’s always been attentive to her, more sensitive to her moods and feelings than the others around him, and he actually _cares_. If she’s having a bad day, he’ll spend time joking around with her, slinging his arm around her shoulder and snuggling up against her after bringing her a latte that she didn’t ask him to pick up. He makes her laugh and she doesn’t feel alone, when he’s there. Somehow, he manages to diffuse the awkwardness around her and Daniel. He makes her look forward to going to work again, and that really resonates with her.

But she ignores the little butterflies she gets in her tummy when he hugs her, tries not to gush too much when he surprises her with a treat or a snack. She doesn’t want him to think that she’s developing feelings, because she’s _not_. She’s not.

She’s probably not.

Although it’s hard to ignore the rush of affection and sympathy she feels for him when he tells her about his break-up with Brittany.

It happened almost a month ago, and she’s heard details here and there, from Holland and Colton and Posey, but nothing from Tyler himself. He’s been away, took a trip to London with Colton right after it happened. 

“To clear my head,” Tyler explains, and she understands. After Daniel, she finds herself again in Paris. She isn’t surprised that Tyler, too, needs a trip to find himself after Brittany.

She’s always understood him.

“You look pretty clear now,” she says with a smile, clinking their wine glasses together. They’re at the first watch party of the new block of Teen Wolf episodes, and the room is loud and rowdy, people signing off on Holland’s live stream and fighting for pieces of barbecue chicken pizza. They leave Tyler and Crystal alone, mostly, in their own little corner by the kitchen, and Crystal is glad. She knows how hard it hurts to end things with someone that really meant something to you, and she wants to make sure he’s okay.

“I’m so much better,” Tyler tells her, nodding his head. “I was a bit messed up, before I went away, but the trip just… cleared things up. It was like I could see myself again, and like I could see that the break-up wasn’t my fault. That I don’t suck at relationships, and that I shouldn’t be scared of dating because one thing failed. That I’m not broken or damaged. You know?”

Crystal knows.

He ducks a little and laughs, shaking his head. “Sorry. That got… way heavy.”

“No, it’s okay!” she says quickly, reaching out to touch his arm. “Seriously, it’s… I get it. You’re talking to the girl who ran away to Paris for six weeks this year, remember?”

He smiles at her. “I remember. And now here you are, good as knew.”

“A little better and wiser,” she says, and he holds out his wine glass.

“I’ll drink to that.” The clink of their glasses makes her smile.

***

When they all leave Jeff’s house after the party, and Crystal tells Tyler that she wants to take him out for a drink, she’s pretty sure it’s the wine talking.

Likely.

Tyler looks down at her, a little confused. “But we just had drinks.” He gestures back towards the house, his words just a little slower than usual. “Inside.”

“Come on, you just went through a break-up,” she insists, poking his shoulder, “and I know what that’s like. And booze is a very important part of the healing process.”

“My break-up was a month ago, though!”

She raises her eyebrows and stares up at him. “Do you want more booze or not?”

“All right, all right,” he says with a laugh. “Lead the way, milady.”

She grins up at him and pulls out her phone to call a cab. “Damn right.”

They go to Tyler’s favourite bar, the one he drinks in with Ian and JR and the other guys. It’s off the beaten path enough that he isn’t really known as anyone other than ‘that dude who happily drops money on shots for his buddies’, which is a good thing. When Crystal’s buzzed, the last thing she wants to deal with is being recognized.

Crystal orders a vodka soda and Tyler orders Jameson on the rocks. The place isn’t very busy and they take a back booth, and when she holds out her glass and says, “To being single!”, Tyler shakes his head.

“To being happy, wherever you find yourself.”

Crystal smiles and clinks her glass against his. “I’ll drink to that.”

She takes a sip, and then leans towards him. “So are you okay? Really?”

Tyler nods, setting down his glass. “Really, somehow, I am. The trip helped a lot, but I’m just… not looking to drown myself in sadness.”

And that, Crystal thinks, is why she likes him so much. Tyler has a good head on his shoulders, and he doesn’t dwell. He doesn’t seek out pity or fish for reinforcement. He deals with his problems and he walks away from them all the wiser. He’s an adult. He’s mature.

Maturity is definitely something Crystal finds attractive.

“Besides,” Tyler adds with another smile, “I’m spending the evening with a pretty girl. What could be better?”

“Shut up,” she says, ducking her head and shoving his shoulder a little. 

“I’m serious!” he says, laughing. “You’re great company, _and_ you’re beautiful. How could I be anything but okay when I’m with you?”

Crystal feels herself flush. He’s always been so sweet to her, and there’s never a layer of obligation to it – he’s nice because _he is nice_ , plain and simple. He’s nice, and he likes her. And he thinks she’s beautiful. 

When she leans in to brush her lips over his, she tastes whiskey on his breath.

The kiss makes her head spin and she has to rest her hand on his arm to steady herself. Crystal isn’t sure what she’s doing, isn’t sure if it’s just the alcohol talking, but every vein in her body is crying _more, more, more_ and she’s dizzy with it all. With the taste, the feel, of Tyler.

She’s caught him off guard, she can tell, and the way his body tenses against her own is enough to make her stop. She pulls back, guiltily, and she’s sure her cheeks are flushed with embarrassment.

“I’m sorry,” she breathes, biting her lip. “I shouldn’t – that wasn’t fair. You just broke up with Brittany.”

Tyler blinks at her, and then slowly, so slowly, he shakes his head. 

“A month ago.”

“Still…. I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head again. “Crystal. Don’t be.”

And then his strong arms are winding around her, pulling her to his chest, and his mouth comes down over hers.

She isn’t planning to go home with him. That isn’t why she took him out for a drink, and she doesn’t want him waking up the next morning thinking that this has all been a ploy, a plot to get him undressed and into bed. He’s her friend, one of her best, and if she screws this thing up, she’ll never forgive herself. It took months for her friendship with Daniel to recover – she doesn’t want to do the same thing with Tyler.

But when she thinks she’s about to pass out from the delicious feel of his lips on her own, when she’s sure that her cheeks are red with burn from his beard and there’s heat between her legs, Tyler’s hand slides up to cup her cheek.

“Let’s get out of here,” he murmurs, lips still against her own, and she’s nodding before she can talk herself out of it.

They kiss in the cab – nothing rushed and eager, no moans or fingers groping over clothing. Just soft and slow, lips lazily grazing together, her resting against his chest. It’s almost as if they know they have time, as if the entire night is their own. As if they want to take their time and get things right.

Tyler pays the cab driver with one arm wrapped around Crystal’s waist, and they press against each other as they stumble inside, not wanting to break the contact between their bodies. Crystal has been to Tyler’s place before a hundred times, for parties or dinners or just to pick him up before work, but it feels exciting and new with his hands dipping under the hem of her shirt. It feels like avenues of possibilities are unfurling before them, snaking their way through Tyler’s place and out into the world, and they can choose them all if they only take the time to do so.

When she’s panting on his lap and his lips are attached to her neck, she grinds down against him to hear him moan. When his hands push her bra aside and his tongue slips out to flick over her nipple, she shivers. And when he carries her into the bedroom and lies her down beneath him, he pushes her hair off her forehead and leans down to kiss her again, softly.

“Are you sure?” he murmurs. His fingers dance around the button of her jeans, but they wait for her. They let her choose.

Crystal wraps her legs around his waist. “God, yes.” And she pulls him down to her again, ready to be lost in the feel of him.

***

The morning dawns early. Curtains hang open over Tyler’s window, sun streaming into the bedroom and turning everything a warm golden colour. And Crystal lies there, naked next to her friend, and silently freaks the fuck out.

 _Shit,_ she thinks. _Shit shit shit shit shit._

Tyler is next to her, facing the other way and sleeping on his stomach, and she can’t help but let her eyes slide over the planes of his back. They’re smooth and strong, and definitely worth appreciating. But then she feels a flush of shame, the same one she’s been feeling ever since she woke with her thigh pressed against his own.

They’re friends. They work together. She’s done this before, gone through all of this with Daniel, and it practically destroyed her. She knows how it is to be awkward around someone when you have to work with them, how painful it can be to see them every day and know that everything they built together has been thrown away.

She barely survived it once. And now all it takes is a little booze to gamble with her and Tyler’s friendship like that, too?

What the hell had she been _thinking_?

She’s eventually able to tamp down her panic enough to slip out of bed. She needs to find her clothes, needs to get dressed before she and Tyler can actually have some sort of conversation about this. No way can she stand around in the nude in front of him, not when they’re both sober and she’s trying to tell him that they’ve made a mistake.

She’s got her panties on and is searching for her bra – had he _thrown_ it somewhere?! – when she hears him stir.

“You sneaking out on me?”

“God,” she says, quickly crossing her arms to cover her bare chest. Tyler’s leaning back against the pillows, smiling lazily at her, and she can’t help but blush. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he says with a chuckle. “I think your bra landed somewhere near the bathroom door, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

She doesn’t think she can turn any redder. “Thanks.” It’s there, just as he said, and she crouches down to grab it. She isn’t sure how she’s going to put the damn thing on without flashing him, and finally turns around. “Don’t look, okay?”

She can hear the amusement in his voice when he says, “All right,” and when she turns back around, bra safely over her chest, he indeed has his eyes covered with his hand. He pulls his hand away and watches her, amused.

“Sorry,” she says, ducking down again to grab her shirt. “I just thought – I don’t know, we weren’t sober when you saw me last night.”

“You think I could forget how beautiful you are?”

“Shut up,” she says, chucking his jeans at his head. But she’s smiling in spite of herself, and she’s suddenly feeling a little less self-conscious, even though she still isn’t wearing pants. “You have to say that, you’re my friend.”

He sits up with a laugh, pushing his jeans to the side. “I don’t lie to friends.”

When he gets out of bed, Crystal ducks her head. He’s naked, just as she was, and no matter how much she wants to stare and memorize the curve of his ass, she knows she shouldn’t. Knows that isn’t how you treat a friend. She looks away, waiting for him to put on a pair of underwear, and when she feels his arms slide around her waist, she jumps.

“I put on boxers, don’t worry,” he says with a smile, and she flushes again, looking up at him.

“Phew,” she says, smiling back at him.

He leans in to kiss her forehead before he lets her go. “You know, if you keep saying stuff like that, I’m going to start feeling hurt. Penis insecurity is a real thing, you know.”

“I don’t –” She cannot remember the last time she’s blushed this much. “Oh god, I didn’t mean – I mean, you have a very nice – oh, god, I hate you.” Because he’s laughing, and his hip nudges hers, and of course he’s joking around with her. He always does.

“You seriously need to relax,” he tells her. “How about I make you some eggs?”

She raises her eyebrows. “You want – you don’t want me to go home so we can pretend this never happened?”

He frowns, and if she isn’t mistaken…. well, he almost looks a little hurt.

“Why do you want to pretend this never happened?”

“I…” She sighs. “I told myself I’m not dating any more co-stars.”

“Why?” he asks. “Because of Daniel?”

She nods. “It took us months before we could be normal around each other again. Don’t you remember how awkward it was for everyone, at first? Nothing felt normal anymore, and it still doesn’t. Not really. And I just… I don’t want to lose you like that, too.”

When his arms slide around her waist again, she can’t help but lean into them just a little. She means what she’s saying, every word, but… Daniel’s arms never held her like this. Like he just needs her close.

“Why do you think you’re going to lose me?”

“Everyone says that when friends start dating!” she argues.

“Were you and Daniel really friends before you got together?”

“Of course we were,” she says, but then she pauses. When she thinks back on it… they weren’t. Not really. They flirted almost the second they met, and the two months before they got together was exactly like that. Teasing and silly, both of them looking for any excuse to touch the other or to be alone. Until they split, her every interaction with Daniel was romantic. Even if they hadn’t consciously realized it right away.

“Listen, I could be crazy,” Tyler says, “but I don’t think you guys were friends like we’re friends. I don’t think it’s the same. I think that you and I…” His hand slides up to brush her hair from her forehead with a little smile. “I think we’re different.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” she says quietly.

“You can’t,” Tyler tells her. “Not for a second.”

And when he kisses her again, she knows. He no longer tastes like whiskey, and there’s no eagerness and urgency like there was back at the bar. It isn’t a booze-fueled make-out – it’s a kiss between friends, between two like-minded souls. A kiss between two people who, crazily enough, might have been supposed to be kissing all along.

When Tyler pulls back from the kiss, he grins at her again, and she knows. She knows that he feels it, too, that she isn’t insane. That he believes in the two of them.

If he believes, why shouldn’t she?

“Come on,” he says. “I was serious about those eggs. I’m kind of starving.”

Crystal nods, the smile unfurling on her face surely matching the one on his own. “Sure,” she agrees, and he steps back, lets her go. “Let me just find the rest of my stuff, and then I’ll join you.”

“Deal.”

She gathers up her bag from the nightstand, and she’s just bent down to try and find her pants and shoes when she hears his voice behind her again.

“Oh, but don’t bother putting on your pants, okay?” he asks, and his grin is evident in every single syllable. “You look really good in panties.”

“You’re a perv,” she laughs, peeking behind her. He’s leaning against the doorjamb with a spatula in one hand and his arms crossed, and he laughs, too.

“And you love it.”

 

_end._


End file.
